Gaedera
Gaedera is a small rocky planet covered in bodies of water that supports an ecosystem of life. About 800,000 years old, its development and maturation into a habitat for life was accelerated by the deities who were drawn to its apparent hospitality. Its archaic deity is Gaede, after whom the planet is named. Its residents, particularly its human residents, have an eventful history spanning a tenth of the planet's age. Geography Gaedera is approximately a million years old, and is one of seventeen planets orbiting its sun--one of six rocky inner planets, and the only one that houses a thriving Empire of deities. Gaede, the first deity to arrive on the planet, became its patron and accelerated its cooling, which at once raised its viability, attracting the first wave of lesser deities. The world is about 8,000 kilometres in diameter, about two-thirds the diameter of the Earth. Because of the low angle of axial tilt, only the poles of the planet experience snow, and are themselves habitable, reaching lows of -20 degrees Celsius. The major landmasses of Gaedera are the Ecorem landmass, divided into continents Petrosa and Irgaedera, and another smaller landmass and continent, Akido, which is separated from Ecorem by a globe-spanning body of water that is recognised to be three distinct oceans: Las Hocorexadion, Las Marr, and Las Enmir. It has a vast array of recorded islands, many of which have been settled by islandic and archipelago nations. Majority of Gaedera's land is fertile and heavily-forested. Irgaedera enjoys the warmer climes of tropics, grasslands and deserts, while Petrosa's climate ranges from tropical to tundra, with a quarter of its land area made up by the tens of thousands of islands off its eastern coast. The Red Ring flatland is situated between the two continents, and largely consists of grassland. Akido spans almost all climate types. Externally, following the convention of naming Empire-bearing planets after their patrons, this planet is named Gaedera, after Gaede. However, people of different nations refer to it by different names. See also: Countries History The history and prehistory of Gaedera, a rocky planet, spans a period of close to a million years. While other worlds might take billions of years to see the first appearance of life, the deities' presence and enactment of their wills upon Gaedera caused it to mature and evolve, by means of altered probabilities, in a fraction of the time. Lorico era (c. 800,000 POG - c. 600,000 POG) The planet of Gaedera formed much the way a rocky planet in any solar system would, through accretion of dust in the accretion disk of a main sequence star. In fact, due to the nature of the universe, this star is precisely what our Sun would have become, had various probabilistic events turned up different outcomes. Early in its lifetime, the first wave of deities was drawn to Gaedera by its high potential for supporting replicating life, and began clustering thickly about it very soon after its formation, accelerating its maturation. Some deities brought sacred energies aligned to rules of their own unique design. This influx of deities, although tapering off, has not ceased up till the present day. Because deities work by subtly manipulating probabilities, they did not technically create life, but rather made it considerably more likely for it to emerge, hence its emergence barely centuries after the deities arrived, years after Gaedea reached a state conducive for the propagation of life. The deities spoke the ancient language hies Loricoda, which is named for the era--a language that they would later teach to the first sapient lifeforms of the planet. Mira era (c. 600,000 POG - c. 8,000 POG) The entire biological history of Gaedera was compressed by the presence of deities into a short 600,000 year time span. As these species emerged, they were adopted by patron deities, their evolution and diversification greatly accelerated. Organisms were molded into the deities' preferred forms, beginning with single-cellular organisms, and increasing in complexity. The evolutionary timeline is highly similar to that of our planet, the Earth except in terms of time scale; unlike on Earth, retrograde evolution rarely, if ever, took place. The appearance of life prompted the arrival of a second wave of deities, consisting largely of Lower Empire deities and Shepherds who immediately laid claim to specific emerging lineages of life, guiding the manner in which they evolved. Elin era (8,000 POG - 0 AOG) The Elin era began with the emergence of the human species, 8,000 years before the Opening of Gates. As soon as the evolution of self-awareness became possible, the first humans appeared, evolved from primate ancestors, within the fertile Red Ring. They dispersed in successive waves across Ecorem, forming cohesive clans out of individual bloodlines. Age of Movement Main article: Age of Movement Eventually these clans began to meet and interact, leading to the inevitable unification of the first tribe, Maba, circa 6,000 POG. The Maba tribe devoured the surrounding clans, pillaging their settlements and taking slaves. Other clans were forced to reform under this emerging tribal structure. During what is referred to as the Age of Movement, the new tribes began to move across the continent, mixing, dispersing and extinguishing bloodlines as they went. Languages, customs and ways of life became as various as there were tribes, and intermarriage between populations was minimal, except between conquerors and the conquered. Expansionist Age The tribal wars of the Expansionist Age followed shortly after, circa 3,500 POG, lasting two millennia. These were millennia of bloodshed and war across the Ecorem landmass, in which the population of the world was so diminished by war that it began to shrink. Acts of unspeakable cruelty were wrought upon the captured. The three tribes that had come to settle upon the Ahid Ere continent on the other side of the ocean were not as much affected by this; their territorial scuffles, though many, were held on just terms, as settled upon by the participants. Hebis Loricoda In the year 2512 POG, the Expansionist Age was put to an end by the Hebis Loricoda, a series of tectonic disturbances lasting half a year, resulting in fatal earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis. This event was proclaimed by the Elotalin Caelor (an individual appointed by Gaede Himself as His singular conduit to His planet) to be an expression of rage from the deities. The first Red Ring conclave was called, held in the Red Ring among leaders of the ten greatest tribes. The Elotalin advised that the tribes call an armistice immediately, advice that they heeded out of dire necessity. The Red Ring Pact was drafted at this summit, precipitating the period of peace and mass settlement known as the Red Ring Peace. Age of Open Gates (0 AOG -) The Opening of Gates, in the year 0 AOG, is thought of as a defining event across the countless cultures of Gaedera. The vibrations in the ether grew loud and the boundary between the strata began to dilate, giving way to a concerted wave of deities returning to the original sites of their descent, all in a single day. This event is also known as Helemen, the Return. Numerous deities who returned chose this time to reconvene with their people, after decade- to millennia-long absences. Sacred energies were renewed or reconstructed, and new sacred arts taught, and with these came a renewed fervour for worship and religious devotion all across the continents. Another conclave was held at the Red Ring, where it was determined that this event signalled a time of cooperation among the nation-states of the world. Among the matters discussed at this conclave was the establishment of a universal calendar, of which the reference point would be the day of the Opening of Gates. All the years thereafter (so far) may be considered to be a part of this fourth era.Category:All pages Category:History Category:Geography